Pasqualino De Santis

Born: 24 April 1927, Fondi, Latium, Italy. A.k.a: Pasqualino De Santis.

Died: 23 June 1996, Ukraine, during the filming of ‘La tregua’.

Education: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia graduated in 1949.

Career: Started as c.asst with doph Piero Portalupi.

Ph commercials.

In 1995 he founded – with doph Giuseppe Lanci, his brother Giuseppe, a.o. – the Nuova Università del Cinema e della Televisione, Rome, Italy. The cinematography scholarship of the university is named after him. The B.A. Film Festival in Busto Arsizio, Italy, named the award for Best Cinematography the ‘Premio Pasqualino De Santis’.

Was member of the AIC. His brother Giuseppe (1917-97) was a writer/director.

Awards: ‘Oscar’ AA (1968) & Golden Laurel Award 3rd place (1970) for ‘Romeo and Juliet’; BAFTA Film Award (1972) for ‘Morte a Venezia’; David di Donatello Award (1981) for ‘Tre fratelli’; ‘Emmy’ Award nom (1982) for ‘Marco Polo’; David di Donatello Award (1985) & ‘César’ Award nom (1985) for ‘Carmen’; ‘César’ Award nom (1986) for ‘Harem’.

It is easy to confuse great settings with great cinematography. The film ‘A Month by the Lake’ has some exquisite individual images of the Lake Como region of Italy captured by the eminent cinematographer Pasqualino de Santis, but this will not be remembered as one of his notable achievements as there is no compelling sense of unity or stylization on the visual side.

However, one has only to think back on the contrasting look of such films as Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo e Giulietta’, Luchino Visconti’s ‘Morte a Venezia’ or Francesco Rosi’s ‘Cadaveri eccellenti’ and ‘Cristo si è fermato a Eboli’ to recognize the extraordinary skill and versatility of De Santis.

Each of these directors prized his ability to adapt setting, and mould light and shadow, to create a particular atmosphere and feeling appropriate to the subject in hand.

The much younger brother of director Giuseppe de Santis, Pasqualino gained a job as assistant camera operator on one of his brother’s productions after graduating from film school in Rome. This was the start of a long association with the cinematographer Piero Portalupi, a man with formidable practical skills who taught him that every problem had a technical solution.

De Santis became a camera operator and soon linked up with the director of photography Gianni Di Venanzo. From Di Venanzo, De Santis learned how to overcome difficulties by taking risks and experimenting.

Always wearing around his neck the light filter that had belonged to Di Venanzo, De Santis then became Rosi’s regular cinematographer. He provided the serene images of the fairytale ’C’era una volta…’ and the hard, dry look for ‘Cristo si è fermato a Eboli’, with its story of political exile in the mountains, before switching to the luminous brightness of ‘Tre fratelli’. “He chooses the right light for the right place,” said Rosi.

He was Visconti’s last regular cameraman. On ‘Morte a Venezia’, the director demanded a flamboyant, conspicuous visual style. De Santis had difficulty achieving an unreal, shimmering impression of the beach, finally solving the problem by stretching large sheets and sails everywhere to filter the sun’s rays.

De Santis always had to work in color as a director of photography. He sometimes sought to suppress color and for Ettore Scola’s ‘Una giornata particolare’, he not only persuaded the director to adopt a sober visual style but memorably created a subdued, near monochrome impression to suit the 1938 setting.

De Santis had rejoined Francesco Rosi earlier this year on the director’s latest venture, ‘La tregua’, and died of a heart attack in the Ukraine while still working on the film. —From obituary by Allen Eyles in ‘The Independent’, July 1, 1996.